Quick chicken laksa
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 2
- Dietary
- Dairy-freePregnancy-friendly
Laksa is one of those soul-warming dishes that I crave to warm my belly during these winter months, but a traditional version takes hours if not days. This is my quick and easy version using shop-bought curry paste.
By Justin Tsang
Ingredients
For the laksa
- 2 free-range eggs
- 200g/7oz dried vermicelli noodles
For the soup
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3–4 tbsp shop-bought red curry paste or laksa paste
- 200ml/7fl oz chicken stock
- 400ml tin coconut milk
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp light brown sugar
- 1 large chicken breast (or 2 small chicken breasts)
For the garnish
- ¼ cucumber, cut into very thin matchsticks
- handful chopped fresh mint leaves
- handful chopped fresh coriander leaves
- 1 Thai red chilli, cut in half
- 1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
Method
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Cook the eggs for 6 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of cold water and set aside until needed.
To make the soup, heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium–high heat. Add the curry paste and fry for 2–3 minutes until the oil turns a reddish hue. Stir in the chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil.
Add the chicken breast to the pan, place the lid back on and lower the heat to medium. Cook for 10–12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Meanwhile, put the vermicelli in a large heatproof bowl. Boil 1 litre/1¾ pint water in a kettle and pour over the vermicelli until covered. Leave to soak while the chicken cooks. Drain just before serving.
Carefully transfer the chicken to a plate. Keep the soup warm over a low heat. Leave the chicken to cool, then use your hands or forks to shred the chicken into chunks.
Divide the drained vermicelli between two bowls and top with the shredded chicken. Ladle the soup into each bowl until the vermicelli is just covered. Peel the eggs, cut each in half and add to the bowls. Garnish with the cucumber, mint, coriander and chilli and serve with the lime wedges.
